AIME and MRO Middle East end on a high

AIME and MRO Middle East closed on Tuesday after a successful two-day run encompassing product launches, deals and announcements that demonstrate the aerospace industry in the region is still the place to do business.
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The co-located events attracted 5004 attendees keen to interact with 330 exhibitors representing the region’s best MRO and aircraft interiors companies. In particular, airline buyers from 71 airlines from the Middle East and Europe took the opportunity to learn more about the technologies, products and services available from existing and new contacts across the entire supply chain.

Abdul Khaliq Saeed, CEO of Etihad Airways Engineering, said, “This is the best platform for us to showcase our capabilities and our high quality and standards. This year’s show has been very successful, we have already signed two collaborations, one with a customer and one with a potential customer.” He added “We have already booked to return in 2020 with a bigger presence than today.”

“The 2019 edition of the show has been incredible,” says Caryn McConnachie, Aerospace Director of show organisers Tarsus F&E LLC Middle East. “We’ve seen a real growth in the interest from exhibitors and the quality of the visitors, and the amount of business done demonstrates that there is a real demand in the market for these kind of focused events.”

Exhibitors at the event were also pleased with the two days worth of business, with many of them confirming their participation in the 2020 edition before 2019 had officially closed.

Jim Smith, Technical Director of Thomas King Associates said, “The Middle East is a market with considerable growth still to come; a lot of the big players are here and if you are serious you need to be here in Dubai.” He added “We were hoping to make contacts with material suppliers and we have been really successful in that. It’s an excellent show and we’ll be back next year.”

“The interest in returning in 2020 certainly speaks for itself,” said Lydia Janow, Managing Director,

Events & Tradeshows, Aviation Week Network. “MRO Middle East is the place to be for anyone who is in the industry, and it’s clear that those who experienced it this year are keen to return.” 

AIME also featured the Inflight Middle East Awards celebrating outstanding contributions to passenger experience across the in-flight entertainment, connectivity and cabin technology domains. Emirates Airline reclaimed its title of ‘Inflight airline of the year’, recognising it’s recently launched “Fly Better” brand promise, while the introduction of Oman Air’s three-class Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner secured the coveted ‘Commercial airline cabin’ award for the airline. Building upon its success in 2018, Inmarsat retained its crown for ‘Connectivity enablement’, while Bluebox came out on top in the fiercely contested ‘IFE system provider’ category. The ‘Content provision’ award went to Global Eagle, rewarding its ongoing investment in the region, while Saudia’s continual investment in its IFEC platform was recognised with the ‘Airline IFEC experience’ award.

New to the Inflight Middle East Awards, the ‘Supplier innovation’ award honouring the most revolutionary IFEC or cabin technology development over the past 12 months went to TravelWell, a personal lifestyle and wellness channel on which guided meditation, nutrition advice and exercises in video, audio, digital and virtual reality (VR) can be accessed through seatback, on passengers' personal devices or by using SkyLights' AlloSky VR headset.

AIME and MRO Middle East will return to Dubai World Trade Centre 25-26 February 2020.